Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-10-25
BLOWN OPEN.
A Safe Broken and Its Cash Con-
tents stolen.

tents stolen.
Between 4 and 30 Yesterday
morning number of butchers who
were eating breakfast at the restau-
rant next to the Louvre saloon and
several men who were playing cards
at the Anheuser saloon on the east
side OF North Main street, between
Court and First streets, heard an ex-
plosion. 1t sounded very much like
pistol shot fired at a distance. After
a few. conjectures they thought moth
ing more about it and wended their
way to business.
When Chas. Knobloch, the proprie-
tor of the Germania Halle at No. 20
North Main street, situated between
the two places where the noise of the
explosion had been heard little be-
fore dawn, opened, he found that his
safe had been blown open and its con-
tents, $240 in silver, carried off. The
work was that of experts Of more
than ordinary nerve. The safe is
placed behind the counter near the
front of the saloon, which is entirely
composed of ground glass windows.
1t is not very large safe, and in these
days of safe-cracking enterprise would
not be considered burglar proof, but
its position so near the street was a
security. The thief or thieves entered
the establishment by smashing in one
of the back windows. Next they
bored two holes alongside of the COM
bination for the purpose OF seizing the
bolt. In this they were disappointed,
SO filling the door with powder they
blew the safe open. The force of the
explosion was so strong that it severed
the heavy inside of the door from the
exterior plate. There was but one
door to the safe. In the iron
cash-box inside were $240 in
silver. This money they obtained
by prying open the lock with
chisel. Another box contained pa
pers. These two boxes the burglars
carried off into the yard, not forget
ting bottle of Mumm, and retiring
to closet in a vacant lot some dis
tance back of the saloon transferred
the silver to their pockets, and finding
that the papers in the other box were
of no value to them, strewed them over
the ground. All tools that had been
used for the blowing open of the safe
were carried off by the enterprising
burglars, who left no traces. Mr.. Knob
loch is of the opinion that two men
were engaged in the crime, one watch
ing while the other was at work. The
police were notified, and attempted to |
establish by the footsteps how many
men had done the work, but the steps
were too much obliterated to allow of |
q satisfactory examination.
Later in the day man notified |
Captain Fletcher that he had found a
keg in the basement, now being exca-
waited, of the Hollenbeck block on
Second street. The officer proceeded |
thither and found that the keg was
nearly filed with gunpowder. 1t is
believed that the missing powGer was |
that used to blow open Kno, loch's |
safe. Watchman Mccullough in
formed HERALD reporter yesterday |
that he had lately seen thieves on his
beat and had so informed the p)lice-
men whom he had met in his nightly |
watches.
Mr.. Knobloch is of the opinion that
the burglars must have been watching
him in the saloon for several days and |
that they. from their observations at |
closing time, had become convinced |
that the safe contained an important |
sum worthy of their efforts. They un-
doubtedly knew that it held the re-
ceipts of Saturday and Sunday.
The police in looking around for sus-
picious characters found three men in
the afternoon on Upper Main street
who looked like crooks. These were
arrested, brought to, the Office and
searched. One had $3.50, the Sec
ond $6.25 and the third nothing.
Although it was thought that foot
marks in the back yard OF the Ger
mania Halle had been obliterated
such seems now not to have been the
case, as the shoes of two OF the men
fitted some of the marks in the yard
we'll. One of the trio had with him a
large steel jimmy weighing about
three pounds, pointed at one end and
chisel- shaped at the other. The latter
end seems to fit the hole in the cash
box perfectly. The Chief of Police
thinks that he has solid case against
these men, who have been unable to
account for their actions or their sleep |
ing places for the last week. All
three have been charged with burg
larry.